Umehito Nekozawa
Umehito Nekozawa, 'who is commonly referred to as "'Nekozawa," is depicted as a hooded figure who is never without his cat hand puppet, Beelzenef the curse doll. Despite displaying a frightening disposition and strange hobbies, Nekozawa is actually a very nice and considerate person. He suffers from Photophobia (sensitivity to light), which causes him to collapse in direct sunlight and as a result, whenever he is dragged towards any light source, he will refer to the people who do so as "murderers." As the President of the Black Magic Club , Nekozawa attempts to get people to join by offering a free "Beelzenef" hand puppet upon admission, but he ultimately fails in this endeavor. Apart from the hand puppet, he also has cursed voodoo doll versions of Beelzenef available for sale; these voodoo dolls are claimed to bring a shower of misfortune to the person whose name is written on its back. Tamaki Suoh is shown to be especially superstitious and nervous around Nekozawa as he has allegedly experienced them first-hand. Personality Though Nekozawa first appears to be a scary, "emo" guy, he is revealed to actually be a nice person who don't know how to interact properly with people as he is obsessed with the occult and Dark Magic. Nekozawa also loves his little sister, Kirimi , very much; so much so, in fact, that he asks the Host Club to help him become the "princely-big brother" Kirimi wishes him to be. During his Renge-led transformation, he works display intensity and purposefulness in challenging his photophobia (fear of light) and saves Kirimi from a gigantic white cat who is approaching her. Appearance Nekozawa is of Russian heritage, possessing pale blonde hair and blue eyes. When not wearing his black hood and wig beneath, he resembles Tamaki Suoh, which is the reason Kirimi mistakes Tamaki for Nekozawa when the girl first encounters the Host Club. Nekozawa wears the Ouran Academy boys' uniform but usually adds a long, black hooded cape over it. In the manga, it's seen that while at college, he adopts casual clothing but still wears a black hoodie on top of it and continues to cover his hair with a black wig and dark contacts that cover his blue eyes. Plot If Nekozawa didn't hide beneath a hood or wear a black wig, his light blond hair and bright blue eyes would make him appear as handsome as any of the Hosts; however, due to his severe photophobia, he must wear these dark items. Due to his inability to show his natural appearance, his younger sister Kirimi Nekozawa, fails to recognize him as her big brother. In addition, the siblings' conflicting opinions about darkness and animals (Umehito loves both, while Kirimi hates both) prohibits them from being around one another. When Kirimi wrongly concludes that Tamaki is her elder brother, it is the Host Club who comforts the broken-hearted occultist and Renge who puts him through a vigorous re-training to accustom him to the light and be closer to his sister. Though he overcomes his aversion to the light temporarily in order to rescue Kirimi from a stray cat, he collapses straight afterwards and relapses into his dark-loving nature; still, his heroism does not go unnoticed by his sister who ends up accepting him for who he is. Nekozawa plays a much larger role in the manga, as well as the live-action drama. At e nd of Volume 8 of the manga, Kirimi becomes an darkness-loving occultist herself complete with her own black hood and a stuffed animal instead of a Beelzenef puppet. In Volume 3 of the manga, the Host Club actually stays at Nekozawa beach estate, not the Ootoris, and the reason that Umehito does not attend their dinner is because when Haruhi switches the lights on indoors, he goes into shock and is incapacitated. When Haruhi becomes ill and the hosts escort her to the bathroom, all the hosts (except for Tamaki) see the photophobic male without his cloak and wig. It is unclear if Umehito figures out Haruhi's true gender during the Host Club's stay in his mansion since Haruhi's cross-dressing father had replaced her masculine clothing with feminine clothing. And finally, in Volume 18 of the manga, it is Nekozawa and fellow Black Magic Club member, Reiko, who make distractions at the airport to keep Anne-Sophie from boarding the plane, in order that Tamaki might see her, if only for a few minutes; and despite originally being afraid of him, Tamaki cries when Nekozawa graduates. He goes on to study literature at Ouran University and gives up his cloak and wig for a black hoodie. Gallery Neko_praying.png|Nekozawa and Beelzenef in the Black Magic Club Nekozawas after words.png|Kirimi clutches onto Nekozawa's cloak Nekozawas before.png|Nekozawa attempts to convince Kirimi that he is her brother The Nekozawas.png|The Nekozawa siblings are happily reunited Umehito.png|Umehito Nekozawa in his usual dark attire Nekozawa_puppet.png|Nekozawa and Beelzenef express their happiness at Kirimi's acceptance of them Umehito_mushroom.png|Beelzenef feeds Nekozawa a strange mushroom in Haruhi's odd dream... Umehito_as_a_baby.png|...and Nekozawa promptly regresses in age, thanks to the mushroom Nekozawa.jpg|Nekozawa and his hand-puppet, the cat Beelzenef CopyofNekosempai.jpg|Nekozawa's true face emerges from the dark room he normally hides in... Episode5-5.png|Nekozawa suddenly appears, sending Tamaki into shock 90710-ohc2.jpg|Nekozawa, surprising Tamaki during the Halloween episode herbigbrother.jpg heroicneko.jpg itstoosoon.png imyourbrother.jpg listeningtotamaki.jpg nekoinnekozawa.jpg tragicneko.jpg nekokiri.jpg D120.jpg D112.jpg D105.jpg D131.jpg D93.jpg D55.jpg D85.jpg D49.jpg Nekoatcollege.png|At University, Nekozawa opts for black hoodie and jeans. UNS.png|Umehito i the Volume 18 extras. DS - shadow king and dark prince.png|In the DS game, Kyoya is unfazed by Nekozawa. Trivia * Nekozawa suffers from photophobia (i.e. an abnormal sensitivity to lights) or heliophobia (i.e. fear of sunlight), hence his fear of and weakness when exposed to any bright light source. * The Nekozawa family can trace their heritage to the Tokarev Dynasty of Russia, suggesting a connection to arms dealing and manufacturing; a firearm even appears in both series. * The presence of the word 'neko' in his last name explains his worship of cats, as well as the constant presence of his cat puppet, Beelzenef. * Umehito's nickname is the "Dark Prince." * Nekozawa is very knowledgeable in areas concerning black magic, although the origins or whereabouts of his acquired knowledge are unverified. Anime Appearances Category:Characters Category:Anime Characters Category:Manga Characters Category:Black Magic Club Members Category:Male Characters Category:Ouran Academy Students Category:Live Action Characters